The energy sector is a main driver of African growth, particularly in regions with geopolitical conflicts like Sudan and South Sudan. The oil and gas industry notably influences these regions' economy, politics, humanitarian situation, and social stability. This study seeks to investigate how the Khartoum War affected the energy sector of both Sudan and South Sudan, particularly looking at the disruptions caused by recent conflicts and their impact on oil production, economic stability, and environmental conditions. The study employs a multi-disciplinary approach, utilising different sources such as regional legal agreements, government reports, academic articles, and press releases from international organisations. The key methodology includes qualitative analysis of several documents and quantitative assessment of production data and economic reports. The study's key findings show a significant decline in oil production and transportation due to the shutdown of key oilfields and pipelines, intensifying economic and humanitarian crises. Additionally, the damage to oil infrastructure has presented serious environmental risks, highlighting the delicate balance between resource management and regional stability. In conclusion, the study's findings underscore the intense impact of the Khartoum War on the energy sector of Sudan and South Sudan, and the urgent need for policy recommendations to mitigate these effects and foster sustainable development.

Metal cutting industry, a key sector in manufacturing, is grappling with the transition to a “net-zero industry” to mitigate climate change and reach sustainable practices. Rare and exclusive materials make recycling and reusing cutting tools more pressing and necessitate efficient circular material flows. The purpose of this research is to explore how collaboration can facilitate circularity in the cutting tool industry. It examines the involvement of stakeholders and their roles in achieving a circular lifecycle for cutting tools. To investigate the interaction between metal cutting tools suppliers and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), this study used a mixed-methods approach that includes data from literature, interviews, and document study. Empirical data is gathered to investigate the factors driving circularity and to identify important participants in the lifecycle of cutting tools. The study revealed challenges to the current situation including underutilization of tools due to the absence of a standardization process and subjective operator judgment, as well as lack of traceability of the tools both internally at SMEs and between the stakeholders. Moreover, by mapping the current actors, the study found cutting tool traceability, undirected decision-making throughout tool lifecycles, and limited awareness of circularity dimensions are key challenges. To handle these challenges. 9Rs circular economy framework used to investigate the possible role of collaboration emerges as a vital enabler for circularity, with SMEs playing a significant role. Moreover, the involvement of machine operators, often overlooked actors, is found to be crucial in influencing circular outcomes. Digital solutions and collaborative strategies that involve CNC machine suppliers and intermittent refurbishing business are pivotal in overcoming the challenges identified, namely, traceability and human subjectivity in tool condition assessment. The study demonstrates that technology providers, intermediary refurbishing businesses, SMEs and other stakeholders operating in the metal cutting tools sector must be involved throughout their lifetime to avoid suboptimal results, exchange information, and inspire industrial actors to support the circular economy.

Manufacturing firms require shared decision structures to implement circular-economy practices across tool lifecycles. In a sector defined by fragmented responsibilities and high material criticality, this study examines how SMEs and a tool manufacturer coordinate decision roles for metal-cutting tools. Using the RAPID framework (Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide), we mapped decision responsibilities across procurement, use, and end-of-life through a company-level questionnaire and multi-stakeholder workshop. Results show that discontinuous data flows, misaligned incentives, and unclear decision rights impede circular outcomes. We propose a transferable decision framework delineating role assignments per lifecycle phase, minimal information exchanges, and feedback routes aligning operations with circularity goals. Pilot validation through a digital traceability platform confirmed conceptual soundness while identifying key enablers: psychological safety for data sharing, competitive information governance, and simplified data capture under variable production. The framework clarifies decision accountability, reduces uncertainty, and enables effective reuse, refurbishment, and recycling.

Industrial research and innovation programmes are increasingly judged on improving environmental performance without compromising productivity, yet evaluations often understate how project teams explain expected benefits, intended beneficiaries, and scaling mechanisms. Using 29 open-ended responses from Sweden’s Produktion2030 portfolio, this study analyses how project teams articulate the programme’s underlying change logic. Four recurring dimensions structure these narratives: digitalisation, sustainability, collaboration, and human competence. Digitalisation is described as linking production data to operational decision-making (e.g., monitoring, analytics, traceability, and simulation). Sustainability is framed as embedded in production improvement through resource efficiency, reduced waste, and resilience. Collaboration is presented as essential for diffusion, standardisation, and cross-organisational learning across OEMs, SMEs, suppliers, and academia. Human competence and work environment improvements are described as enabling conditions for adoption. Overall, the findings depict production innovation as a multi-dimensional socio-technical process in which technological, organisational, and human factors reinforce one another. The paper contributes a replicable approach for extracting programme-level theories of change from lightweight project narratives.